


Aquamarine

by Juiliet



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aquariums, Fluff, M/M, Oneshot, Zoo trip, date, send me prompts on tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 03:50:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11843403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juiliet/pseuds/Juiliet
Summary: When the zoo announces that the aquarium's renovations will take an extra week, it throws a wrench in Lance's date to the zoo, or so he thinks...





	Aquamarine

**Author's Note:**

> hi my name is jules and an anon asked me to write a zoo date fluff fic so i did. come say hi @ilovechickensofttacos on tumblr and send me more prompts

“Keeeeeith,” Lance whined like a two year old as Keith dragged him like a dead weight through the crowd of excited children and less excited parents. “It’s  _ hot _ out! What are you even looking for? And why aren’t we using a map?”

“Because you were so impatient to get through the gates that I didn’t have time to grab one,” Keith grumbled, going up on his tippy toes in an attempt to see over the heads of zoo visitors with little success. God, he’d never realized just how short he was. Was this how Pidge felt all the time? 

Keith was beginning to regret not bringing anyone else along with them to the zoo. They would have forced Lance to slow down, or at least distracted or entertained him enough to allow Keith to apply his sunscreen. But this was also supposed to be their first real date together of the summer, alone. They’d gone on a few ‘dates’ in June and July, but could you really consider it a real date when their friends almost always tagged along or? Or if Allura or Shiro practically chaperone them? Keith had just wanted a time where he and Lance could just be together, not that he didn’t enjoy the others. He just wanted some time when he could kiss Lance (more than a peck) and not have Shiro gently remind them that Pidge was still kinda young and then have Pidge not so gently remind Shiro that he was literally six years old. He would gladly slather aloe vera all over his body for that.

“Well, what are you looking for?” Lance asked impatiently. “And also when are we getting dinner? It’s like, 7:30, I don’t even think the zoo is open for much longer and… we haven’t stopped by the aquarium yet.”

“The zoo closes at 8,” Keith said with a bit of a sigh. “And the aquarium is still under renovation, remember? It won’t be open for a week or two. I don’t think we’d be able to see anything even if we did have time to stop by.”

“It’ll be okay, we can come back again soon, right?” Keith reminded him hopefully. “Our apartment is only a 20 minute drive from here. We can come up over the weekend sometime.”

“I know,” Lance sighed, discouraged. “But I really wanted to just see it before we go back to school and get swamped with homework and have to be adults again. There won’t be a lot of time to make day trips just to see the aquarium, you and I both know that.”

Keith bit his lip, feeling guilty. He hated seeing Lance disappointed. That face was almost enough to make him spill the other big reason they couldn’t go to the aquarium yet just to make him feel better. Almost.

Keith knew Lance had practically grown up going to this aquarium pretty much every weekend. He could make maps on it from memory. He knew where every exhibit was, he knew the names of every dog shark and stingray in the touch pools. He was best friends with the head of the marine life care department at the zoo, Coran. This aquarium was actually where Keith and Lance first met. It meant a lot to both of them. That was why it was bitter sweet when the zoo announced they were closing the aquarium last year to make some (very much needed) renovations on all the exhibits. On one hand it was sad to see the aquarium that meant so much to them change, but they were both excited to see the new additions. Today was supposed to be the opening day and Keith and Lance had planned this day trip months in advance, which was why Lance was disappointed when the zoo suddenly announced last month that the aquarium would need another week to finalize all the renovations, but there was nothing they could do about it.

They met 2 years ago when Lance was working with the zoo and Keith was here doing research for his architecture final project. Fortunately Keith’s teacher, Allura, was Coran’s niece, and Keith had been Allura’s favorite student, so when he asked if he could be allowed to look behind the scenes Allura had pulled a few favors. Keith remembered the first time he’d ever met Lance had been standing in a pool of baby sea turtles, inspecting them for shell rot. They’d gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, but since they both practically lived in the halls of the aquarium that year they soon became very close.

“Hey,” Keith said, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend’s waist. “We’ve still had fun today, right?”

And it actually had been a really great day so far. They’d went in a clockwise circle around the zoo, taking their time to look at all the animals, and occasionally stopping to compare each other to said animals. They’d compared their arm-span to the wingspan of giant bats, fed granola to budgies, and watched the new baby elephant romp around in a mud puddle. Lance was having a blast, reading all the facts and goofy signs out loud in an attempt to make Keith laugh, and it worked. They’d decided to eat lunch in the aviary and a beautiful macaw had landed on Lance’s shoulder and kept wolf whistling at him until a zookeeper came over with a little cup of nectar and showed Lance how to feed it without spilling the cup. 

“His name is Frederick,” The zookeeper had informed them as Lance held up the cup for the hungry lorikeet to eat. “And he seems to think he can flirt with everyone that passes by him.”

“Wow,” Keith grinned at Lance slyly. “I can’t believe I found the embodiment of you in a bird.”

Lance had flicked a french fry at him in retaliation.

After lunch they’d seen tigers prowl around their enclosures and red pandas doze peacefully in trees. They ended up spending a lot of time in the enclosed desert area where they got to watch meerkats scamper in and out of their burrows and fat tortoises waddle their way across the sand. Now they were going through some of the last outdoor exhibits and Lance was getting a little tired. In fact, Keith was pretty sure the poor guy had crashed about halfway through the lemurs, monkeys, and apes exhibits. Keith didn’t blame him, they’d been here since 9 in the morning and the entire time Lance had been running around and chittering excitedly about every single thing.

“Well, if we can’t see my favorite animal,” Lance huffed, leaning into Keith. “We can see yours, what is it anyways?”

“That’s actually what I was taking you to see,” Keith said, continuing to walk towards the exhibit. “My favorite animal is a hippopotamus.”

“A  _ what? _ ” Lance said, incredulous. 

“You heard me.” Keith’s cheeks burned a bit. “I like hippos. They’re uh… big and uh… kinda cute.”

“Cute?” Lance laughed a little bit, seeming to perk up. “I mean, the baby hippos are, but aren’t hippos like, one of the most dangerous animals in the world?”

“They are  _ the  _ most dangerous animal in the world.” Keith corrected as they approached the hippo exhibit and leaned against the railing. “But they’re still cute as fuck, look at them.”

Lance did, laughing a bit as the baby hippo swam circles around its mother. “I guess in a way they’re like you then: big and mean looking, but actually just adorable softies once you start digging.”

Keith turned to look at Lance, and was struck dumb for a moment. His boyfriend was leaning against the railing, watching the baby hippo dive in and out of the water as its mother stayed submerged beneath, ears flicking occasionally when a fly landed on them. The soft light from the setting sun cast an orange glow over his tanned skin and reflected back from his blue eyes. His sunglasses were positioned up in his soft, mousy brown hair. He looked… beautiful.

Wow.

That was gay.

“Attention zoo visitors.” A voice called out through the loudspeakers and startled Keith out of his gawking. “The zoo will be closing in 15 minutes. Please make your way towards the exit now. Thank you for visiting today!”

Lance sighed, pulling away from the railing. “Well, thanks for taking me out today. I had fun.”

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to see the aquarium,” Keith said, taking one of Lance’s gangly arms and slipping it around his shoulders. “I know you really wanted to see it.”

“Nah,” Lance waved him away with his free hand. “You’re right, we can come back on a free weekend. It’ll be a good date idea, right? Well, what are we doing for dinner. It’s kind of late, but I could look up a couple restaurants in the area on my phone.”

“I’ve already made arrangements for dinner,” Keith grinned as he pulled Lance by the waist away from the throngs of families pushing strollers and couples holding hands and towards a gated off path. 

“Wait, Keith the exit is that way.” Lance protested, trying to tug them back. Lance may be bigger than Keith, but Keith had a strong grip on his waist. “What are you doing? We can’t go back there! It says employees only!”

“Does it?” Keith said, tilting his head at the sign in mock confusion. “It may be because I dropped out of High School and had to retake junior year, but I think it says ‘Keith is the best boyfriend ever’.”

“What are you tal-,” Lance stopped as Keith pulled out his key ring. He looked up at Keith and raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing, mullet?”

“Taking you out to dinner, and don’t try to pay me back, it’s my treat.” Keith replied, searching for the key labeled ‘AQUA’. “I wanted to scale the fence, make it like old times, but Allura wouldn’t let me.”

“What do you mean Allura wouldn’t let you?” Lance asked as Keith pushed the gates open. “Keith, you know we aren’t allowed back here, and I thought you left your life of crime in the past! And isn’t this the path to the old aquarium?”   
“ _ Yup _ .” Keith confirmed, grabbing Lance’s hand and pulling him along. “Just shut up and trust me.”

Lance was probably going to argue some more, but then he saw the impressive shiny new entrance to the aquarium and his mouth fell open. He gaped in stunned silence, allowing Keith to pull him down the lantern lit mosaic pathway. The tiles were the color of soft sand with shell shapes embedded inside to give it the impression of a beach. The tiles faded into blue with specks of iridescent stones to resemble the rolling waves of the beach. As they ran down the path, lights (controlled by Pidge in their tech room) flickered on in the reflection pool and fountains shot jets of water high into the night sky. 

They stopped a few feet in front of the large new glass doors to get a good look. The old weather worn marble exterior had been replaced by a sleek modern design meant to symbolize the way water ebbed and flowed over the shore. Their had been a contest to find the design for the architecture, and the winner’s name was to be kept a secret until opening day. But Keith already knew the winner, and now Lance did too. 

He turned to Lance grinning, waiting to see his reaction. Lance’s blue eyes were blown wide as realization dawned on him. 

“THIS IS YOUR DESIGN!” He shrieked incredulously. “OH MY GOD! KEITH! YOU WON?”

Keith nodded. He’d been dying to tell him since he found out from Allura, but decided to keep it a secret so he could surprise Lance. “I won the contest, and got an A on my project.”

“YOU-” But whatever Lance going to say he stopped when he pulled Keith into a harsh kiss. When they finally pulled away Lance spluttered wordlessly finally giving Keith the opportunity to explain.

“They emailed me at Christmas time saying I had won the contest,” He said, “And I was going to tell you, but I decided to make it into a surprise. It’s been killing me.”

“I cannot believe this.” Lance said, covering his face with hands as Keith swiped a card and the electronic doors unlocked themselves and opened to reveal the brand new interior. “This has to be a dream. There is no way this is- THE DOG SHARK POOL!”

The minute Lance saw the small, sleek bodies of dog sharks moving effortlessly through the water he was already running. Keith laughed, chasing after him. Lance knelt reverently by the edge of the pool, looking into the crystal clear water, then looking up at Keith. 

“Can I…?” He began, and Keith nodded. He reached out with two fingers and let his fingers graze against a shark near the water’s surface. The shark glided past him, fin cutting a gentle wake behind it. The blue lights from the water cast a glow over Lance’s face. “I can’t believe they kept this exhibit. When I was working here they were considering removing it because of the stress.” 

“You remember that rest area idea you suggested last year?” Keith said casually, petting a dog shark.   
“Yeah,” Lance nodded, not taking his eyes off the water. “But the old tank didn’t have the resources for it.”

“This one does,” Keith said, pointing towards the end of the pool where natural looking rocks blocked off a section of the pool and a sign stood that read:’ Dogshark rest area, please do not pet!’. “When I designed this tank I put one in so the zoo could keep the dog sharks.”

“Oh my God,” Lance managed, sounding a little choked up. “You are… just…”

“I’m glad you like it,” Keith smiled, pecking Lance’s cheek. 

The rest of the night was spent holding hands and kissing underneath the tropical reef and watching jellyfish float lazily through the clear waters and being totally, tragically, sickeningly in love.

**Author's Note:**

> i wanted to write m o r e and add extra detail but it took me 3 days just to get this down so i was like 'ok time to stop' but i actually like this au. comment if you want to see a story based on it.  
> check meowt on tumblr @ilovechickensofttacos  
> please support authors by leaving comments!!


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